


rockfall

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18623788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERSHow did Steve return all of the Infinity Stones? And why did he decide not to return to the future?Avengers: Endgame fix-it fic





	rockfall

Steve Rogers wasn’t a coward. He didn’t run from his demons, he faced them head on, or so he thought. His reserve started to get tested when he was returning all of the Infinity Stones to the right places. The reality stone had been easy, he had no attachments in Asgard and he just enjoyed being on a different planet. Likewise the power stone was simple, a quick drop off and run to avoid waking Peter Quill. 

Then came New York. Returning the time stone was fast, the Ancient One had been expecting his arrival so all it took was a quick hand over. The next part was more tricky, Steve had to return the mind stone. It was easy enough to put back, he had left past Steve unconscious by the case for Loki’s sceptre, but the knowledge his friends were still in the building, that Tony and Nat were still there, still alive, he didn’t know how he was going to manage it. Yet manage it he did, he ignored every impulse, every fibre of his being that wanted to see them one last time, to give one final goodbye. Even when he saw his past self he didn’t falter, he just kept going.

Then came Vormir. He hadn’t even gotten to process her death yet. After Tony had died everything had been about him, every moment was about Pepper or Peter or Morgan but now it was about her. It was about mourning his best friend, the one who had been there for him when the whole country had turned against him, the one who helped him even when she was fighting for the opposite side, the one who had never given up on bringing everyone back. From the moment he landed Steve was in tears. He remembered Nat’s last words to him, her telling him that she’d see him in a minute, the smile, her excitement to time travel, to go into space. He wished he could go back to that moment, hug her one last time, tell her everything would be ok, even if it wasn’t going to be.

By the time Steve reached the Red Skull his tears had begun to clear up. His grief soon turned to anger, this was the man that had taken everything away from him, that had taken Peggy away from him, that had taken Bucky away from him. He even had a part in taking Nat away from him too. Every instinct he had told him to knock him out of the air, to end him for once and for all, to forget all about the stones, to finally get rid of his old nemesis. But Steve Rogers was not a coward.

“Follow me,” the spirit muttered, daring Steve to do anything else. 

Fighting his instincts, he followed the ex-head of Hydra up the mountain. He had no idea how he was going to return the stone. A sacrifice was needed to gain the stone, would one be needed to return it? Or would he merely have to throw it off of the cliff Clint described, the last place Nat had known, the last time anyone had seen her alive, the place no one could even go to retrieve her body. Steve sensed they were getting close, close to what he did not know. Eventually they came to a halt on the cliff.

“Throw the stone off of the cliff,” the Red Skull rasped, “a soul for a soul.”

Steve hadn’t really processed what had been said but did as instructed, throwing his second to last stone over the edge into the abyss, the abyss that held Nat’s broken body, her final resting place. He lost himself in his grief, he fell to his knees, sobbed, closed his eyes and —

.

.

.

.

.

— and woke up. Strange, he couldn’t remember falling asleep. Steve bolted upright, remembering why he was in this barren wasteland. He checked for his briefcase, his shield, his Pym Particles, the final stone. Only when he was certain he had everything he needed to do his final trip into the past did he notice something was wrong. No, not wrong, different. As he stood up he quickly found out what he had done, but not before he had been tackled to the ground by a flash of red hair.

“NAT, NAT IS THAT REALLY YOU,” Steve was out of breath and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Well who else would it be, happen to know anyone else who flung themselves off a cliff on this planet?” It was Natasha alright, no one else would be that snarky right after being brought back to life.

“But how? How did you survive? I thought it was a soul for a soul.” Steve was flabbergasted, this was his best friend, the only person he really felt understood him in the future, his person. Her coming back felt far too good to be true.

“How am I supposed to know?” Natasha countered, “wait, what are you doing here, did someone just sacrifice themself for the stone again? Did it not work? Did Thanos win? We need to—”

“Woah woah slow down, we won! Thanos is dust, literally. I’m here returning all of the stones to the point from which they were taken, something about the timeline getting interrupted if they’re not.”

“This sounds like it’s got Strange all over it,” Natasha laughed, “Strange is back, right? Tell me everyone who died in the Snap came back, Steve.”“Everyone is alive and kicking. Well,” Steve stopped for a breath, how could he tell her that Tony died, that he was never coming back.

“Steve, what do you mean well? Did someone die? Please tell me no one died. Steve, please!”

“Natasha, Tony died. He sacrificed himself to save everyone, to get rid of Thanos forever. He saved the entire universe.”

Natasha looked broken, what was once a joyous reunion had turned into a painful reminder of reality. It took a few moments for Steve to recognise that Natasha was hugging him, crying into his shoulder, mourning one of her closest friends. He felt numb, unable to help her as she tried to process what had happened whilst she had been dead.

“T-tony can’t die Steve. What do you mean Tony is dead? What about Morgan and Pepper, oh god Morgan is so young, please tell me he’s not dead, he can’t be dead, please he can’t be dead.” Natasha was sobbing hard, practically babbling at this point.

It took a while but Natasha eventually calmed down. Steve started recounting stories of their old Avengers days and eventually she joined in, remembering the good times they had had together. They were soon laughing again, the mood still heavy, thick with remembrance of times gone by and what they had lost. By this point, hours had passed from when Steve had arrived on Vormir but he didn’t want to leave just yet. 

“Steve? How do I get back? Is there enough Pym particles for the both of us or…”

Steve searched his pouch and pulled out his final two vials, originally intended to take him to return the Space stone and then back to the future. He handed one across to Natasha. 

“Take this, I can get more at my last stop,” Natasha began to protest but he cut her off, “no, I’m not leaving you behind, I can’t lose you again.”

“Steve, what happens if you can’t get any more? Do you just get stuck in the past?”

“Maybe I will, who knows.”“Steve, where is your last stop?”“It doesn’t matter.”“Steve.”

“New Jersey, 1970.”

“What? That wasn’t on the original plan, what happened?”

“We lost the space stone, the Hulk knocked it out of Tony’s hand before they could return to the future and, well me and Tony figured out another time when we could find it.”“But 1970? New Jersey? How did you know it would be there?”

Steve looked away. He couldn’t meet Natasha’s eyes, knowing that if he did his plan would be ruined. 

“Peggy told me. That’s where SHIELD was based, that’s where… that’s where she was.”

“Steve—”

“I know ok, I know. But Tony was always telling me to get a life. Natasha, she’s the only one I want to spend my life with. I’ve already told Bucky, everyone else has already started moving forwards but Nat, everything I had, everything I miss, it’s all in the past. Why go back to the future when I could just stay in the past?”

Natasha stared at him for a long time, as if trying to remember every detail of him.

“I’m going to miss you Rogers.”

“Natasha please — wait, what?”

“Well nothing I saw is gonna stop you, right? Go get your dream girl.”“What?”“You heard me, I’m not going to get between you and Peggy. She’s your girl, go get her. Just give me a hug or something first at least.”

The goodbye wasn’t easy, Natasha had just found out one of her closest friends was dead and now she was about to permanently lose another. Just as Natasha went to time travel back Steve stopped her.

“Wait, I need you to do something for me. Give this to Sam, I don’t have any use for it anymore.”

“Are you sure Steve?”

“Yes, I just want to be normal. Just Steve from Brooklyn, not Captain America, not anymore.”

With that, Steve’s final connection to his future was severed. He handed Nat the shield, and with one last teary goodbye, they parted. It didn’t take long for Steve to return the space stone, all he had to do was use the distraction he and Tony had already created to slip it back into place. Next came the hard part.

It was just one swift knock on a door to the rest of his life.

“Director Carter? It’s been a few years.”

.

.

.

.

.

Everyone was shocked when Natasha Romanov came back through the Quantum Realm. Everyone, that was, except Bucky Barnes.

"NATASHA!" Bruce Banner was over the moon, hugging the woman he thought he lost weeks ago, "We've got to get everyone, where did Clint go? He can't have gone far, just wait here a minute-"

"Hold on big guy, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I've got something for Sam here."

Sam perked up at that, still in shock from her entrance rather than Steve's.

"Sam, Steve wanted you to have this. He's given up his mantle, he just wanted the quiet life. He knows you won't want it, but Sam he's gone. Take up the shield, continue on his memory."

The shield was handed over, still covered in dust from Vormir.

"All he asked is that you do your best. What do you say, Captain America?"

Sam stared in disbelief at the shield in his hands, unsure of what to say. Finally, after a long few moments he nodded his head, wiped his eye, and looked forward at the formally dead woman.

"Well, I do like the ring that has."


End file.
